


Continuing Education

by deandratb



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Blind Date, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-07-18 14:50:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16120754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deandratb/pseuds/deandratb
Summary: Scenes from a high school full of familiar faces, friendship, flirting, and family. Loosely related chapters all set in the same world.





	1. Forgive Me The Confusion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ATwistOfLemonLyman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATwistOfLemonLyman/gifts).



> Initial fic prompt: **teacher AU + blind date**

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna agreed to go on a blind date with a former teacher. Nobody told her he was also her boss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter and my decision to expand the universe owe much to Raquel. You rock, friend.

Donna Moss was a U.S. History teacher at an underfunded public school in DC. Her second year there had just begun, and she was grateful to have made a few friends among the other teachers–leaving behind everyone she knew in Wisconsin wasn’t easy, but she wanted to go where they needed teachers, and she felt like her determination and empathy were more valuable in the District.

She was immediately wary when Ginger offered to set her up, no matter how certain her new friend was that they would be ‘perfect’ for each other. Perfect sounded way too good to be true, and she might be new but she wasn’t  **that** new. Carol backed Ginger up, though, and knew exactly what to add.

“He works with kids, too,” she pointed out, grinning when Donna stopped shaking her head and listened. “He taught fifth grade before he moved up to administration. You’ll have a lot to talk about.”

She was still hesitant–because weren’t blind dates guaranteed to be nothing but disaster? But she agreed, swayed by the idea of a man who would get it, who would have his own unbelievable-but-true stories about the kids in his care. A guy who was good with children…that was a mark in his favor. So she went.

After she got to the restaurant early and waited, she wasn’t sure which of them was more shocked when her date arrived, and it was Josh.  _Vice Principal Lyman,_  she corrected herself firmly as he sank into a seat, looking like he’d rather bolt instead.

“It’s you?” he asked, and she straightened her shoulders. _**He** was unhappy about this? _

Donna had no idea what kind of teacher Josh Lyman was before he transferred to her school to work under Principal McGarry. She had no idea what Superintendent Bartlet had been thinking promoting him. What she did know was that he was an arrogant showoff who strutted around the school like the whole place belonged to him, and it bugged her.

She’d been secretly hoping for weeks now that he would get tired of his new position and transfer back out.  _It wasn’t clear what he even did in his job,_ she thought as he frowned over the table.

“And it’s you,” she finally replied, watching as he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. No wonder Ginger refused to give her the guy’s name when she set it up–Donna should have seen that for the red flag it clearly was. 

“When Sam told me–” Josh swallowed whatever he was going to say, then started over, “I didn’t know I was being set up with a teacher from my school. We shouldn’t be here like this.”

She actually agreed with him, but the fact that he said it first made her want to argue. She widened her eyes innocently and replied, “Having dinner?” 

“Yeah.”

“We’re not allowed to eat?”

“We’re allowed to eat, we just…” He paused the moment he caught the amusement in her eyes. “Hey.”

“What?”

“You’re messing with me.”

He could try to get her transferred if he decided she was trouble. Maybe even fired. But he was looking right at her; she wasn’t going to lie.

“Yes. A little.” Donna smiled. “You’re too easy.”

“Am not.” Josh looked down at his menu instead of at her, then back up. “You don’t think there’s a problem with going out with somebody who’s kind of your boss? Would you go out with the principal if he asked you?”

She glared at him. “First of all, Josh, Leo McGarry is older than my father. His divorce isn’t even final yet. And secondly, it’s not like  **you**  asked me. I didn’t know it was you I agreed to meet here!”

“Ouch.” He put a hand over his heart. “That hurts.”

“You’ll get over it.”

The waiter glided up to their table and offered them an expectant smile. “Good evening. Do you know what you want?”

Josh blinked up at him, then glanced at Donna.

She raised her eyebrows, a silent challenge.

_Well…do you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title borrowed from "Momentum" by Vienna Teng.


	2. This Moment Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five weeks after his arrival, Donna finds herself a lot closer to Josh--literally--than she expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a prompt from [theonewithwaytoomanyfandoms](https://theonewithwaytoomanyfandoms.tumblr.com/).

“Hey, move over.”

It was the first field trip Donna had volunteered to chaperone, and she had been enjoying the chatter of the kids around her as she settled into her seat.

**Her** seat, which she had no intention of sharing. Especially not with Josh Lyman, the new VP of the high school, who was the last person she expected to see on the bus.

And yet, there he was. Hovering next to her, shifting from one foot to the other.

“Donna?” He added impatiently, glancing around them at the seats full of students. “Come on. Please?”

She felt the rumble of the engine starting up and sighed. _At least he said please_. She would count that as a win.

“All right.” Donna moved her bag into her lap and slid over to the window, waiting while Josh took her former spot. “Nobody else wanted the pleasure of your company?”

“CJ and Toby are arguing about some movie she saw and whether the book is better,” he replied, unzipping his backpack. “And if you think I want to sit with a student, you’ve inhaled too many marker fumes.”

“Shouldn’t you be trying to get to know the students?” She pointed out. “You’re never in the classrooms during the day, unlike those of us who are busy doing the real work.”

“Hey, I’m busy too!” Josh didn’t look half as offended as his words intended, with one arm disappearing in his backpack up to the elbow while he searched for who knew what.

“I’m sure,” she agreed. “You have so much important roaming to do. The halls won’t walk themselves.”

“I think best while I’m moving,” he argued, triumphantly pulling out a squished pack of chocolate mini donuts. “And it is part of my job to be available in case a teacher needs something.”

“Well, it’s not the same as engaging with the classes. You would be more help if you developed relationships with the kids, “ Donna insisted. “Not just their teachers.”

“There’s engaging with the students, and then there’s hell,” Josh countered. “And believe me, spending two hours trapped on a bus with forty kids is not the time to make friends.”

“Then why are you sitting with me?”

He laughed. “Fair point. This is your first trip, huh?”

“Yes. Why?”

“After a few rounds of chaperoning, even the nicest teachers stop being so idealistic. Donut?”

Donna wrinkled her nose. “No, thanks.” Turning to the window, she let the conversations around them blur into white noise and hoped he would find someone else to bother.

Her plan for the trip had included long discussions with the girls sitting around her, reading the novel in her bag, eventually a snack. She had the feeling that Josh was a high-maintenance seatmate, and now her next two hours would belong to him.

It was her own fault that she had avoided getting to know him since he arrived at the school. He was unreasonably cute, with the permanently mussed hair and puppy-dog pout--and the last thing Donna needed was another boyfriend interfering with her career.

Josh didn’t know any of that, but she could tell that her dismissal bothered him: the more she ignored him, the more he tried to get her attention. The man was at least ten years older than her but he had the hyperactive sensitivity of a little kid.

Exhibit A: the way he was currently jostling their seat, his leg bouncing with pent-up energy.

“Josh.”

“Mmmph?” His response through a mouthful of donut forced her to hide a smile.

“Settle down, please,” Donna requested in her best Teacher Voice. “It’s a long trip and you’re going to make me seasick.”

Josh glanced down, halting his movement immediately. If she wasn’t mistaken, he flushed a little before speaking.

“You get seasick?”

“It’s an expression.”

“It’s also an experience.”

“Well, in this case I was using it as an expression. Give me a donut.” 

“Sure. So...why did you decide to chaperone?” Josh asked, watching her carefully eat the slightly melted treat. When she was done, she wiped her hands and the corners of her mouth on a napkin that appeared from her bag like a magic trick.

“I wanted to help out,” Donna said. “This early in the year, most of the faculty is busy advising clubs and getting their own kids settled in; they were short an adult tonight.”

“Okay. I meant, you’ve never volunteered before, and you’ve been here longer than I have. Why now?”

Either he was keeping tabs on her...or he knew her extracurricular record some other way. “How many trips have you been on?”

“Overall, or just for this school?”

“This school.”

“All of them.”

Donna’s eyebrows arched. “And how many is that?”

“Seven, I think. Yeah, seven so far this year, including this one.”

“Wow.”

“Still think I need to interact more with the kids?”

“Yes,” she answered firmly, but a grin followed. “Maybe not on buses, though.”

Josh grinned back, ducking his head. _He had the most ridiculous dimples,_ she thought. Because Donna had yet to figure out if he was wielding that boyish charm of his accidentally or on purpose, she wished she found it less appealing.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to sit in on some of the class periods,” she added, shaking off the stray thoughts. “Principal McGarry makes the time for it.”

“Leo enjoys it,” Josh agreed. “He likes to think of himself as a man of the people.”

“Don’t you?”

He shrugged. “The principal likes to use me for other things. Like chaperoning trips. Can you imagine him on a cracked leather seat, surrounded by squealing kids?”

“I’m sure he would do great,” Donna said loyally.

“He would have a migraine ten minutes in and threaten to pull the bus over before a half hour was up,” Josh countered. “We all play to our strengths. I happen to have a high tolerance for chaos.”

“What about me?”

“I think you probably do alright with chaos,” he said. “But you try to make order out of it.”

“No,” Donna said with a laugh. “What are my strengths?”

“Oh. I’ve only been here a few weeks,” he protested, scratching his neck.

“You’ve been here five weeks,” she told him. “And clearly you notice things. What do you think?”

“I think you’re good at what you do,” he said slowly, looking down the aisle rather than meeting her gaze. “You’re still deciding where you fit, even after a year, so you’re careful about what you say. But the kids love you, and the other teachers are protective of you. We’re lucky to have you, Donnatella Moss.”

She’d mostly been teasing him, trying to throw him off balance the way he kept doing to her. Whatever response she had been expecting, it wasn’t that.

“Well.” She tucked her hair back behind her ears. “Thanks, Josh. That’s quite the compliment from a guy who’s only been here five weeks.”

“I meant it.”

****

Between the late schedule and the excitement of the away game, the bus was quieter on the ride home. Josh chatted with her for a while about their winning team, the food they’d shared from the concession stand, and the students that had gathered around them in the risers.

Eventually even he was lulled by the ride along the darkened highway. The new vice principal of her school drifted off with more than an hour left of their trip, his head landing gently against her shoulder while she read her book.

Freezing, Donna stared to her left, watching the slow rise and fall of his chest. Josh was definitely asleep. He fell asleep **on** her. How was that even possible?

It wasn’t appropriate, she knew that much. They were barely acquaintances, let alone friends. What would the kids--or the other teachers--think?

Exhaling slowly, Donna shifted just enough to face forward. He didn’t move, or respond in any way. Neither did the students in the seats surrounding them, who Donna could now see were either unconscious too, or staring at their phones.

In the dim overhead light, she could just make out their fellow chaperones up ahead, sharing the front seat behind the driver. _So much for their judgement,_ she realized. CJ’s face was nestled in the curve of Toby’s neck, where he’d let her use his folded-up jacket as a cushion. They looked like they had been asleep for awhile.

Settling back, Donna gave up worrying. After all, it would be easy to wake Josh and nudge him back to his side of the seat...she just didn’t really want to.

His profile was serious in sleep, peaceful. Or as close to peaceful as Josh Lyman ever got. His hand twitched next to her knee, making her wonder if he was dreaming. _What did a guy like Josh dream about?_

It really was soothing, the rumble of the bus along the road. Donna woke up when it stopped--with her hair falling over her face, as Josh stirred next to her.

“Hey, we’re here.”  

If he was embarrassed to be caught sleeping on the job, he didn’t show it. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching a little while kids started gathering their things to leave.

“Did you have a nice nap?” Donna asked, prepared to accept his apology for mistaking her for furniture.  

“Yeah, it was great,” Josh replied with enthusiasm, missing her eyeroll entirely. “I feel totally refreshed.”

He stood after the bus had cleared out, and slung his backpack over one shoulder. “We should be seatmates next time too, Donna. You’re my new pillow. Every night trip, I’ve got dibs.”

She was too surprised by his casual possessiveness to do more than blink.

“That was great,” he declared to the empty bus as he strode away, moving faster than her brain could catch up.

_Josh was her boss,_ Donna reminded herself, stepping out into the harsh lights of the parking lot. _It didn’t mean anything. He probably slept with a different teacher on every field trip._

“Hey!”

She turned, keys in hand, as Josh jogged up behind her. He handed her the half-empty pack of donuts.

“To help keep you awake on the drive home,” her boss explained. The smile that spread across his face opened it up, making him seem confident and vulnerable at the same time. It was sweet.

It was confusing.

“Night,” Donna said in farewell. She took the donuts without protest, though there was no chance she would be eating them on the road.

As she left the lot, her eyes were pulled back to Josh. He was still standing there, shrinking in her rearview mirror, watching her go.

_Maybe it meant something after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title borrowed from "Recessional" by Vienna Teng.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally set in an elementary school; I changed it to expand it into a series.
> 
> Want to send me prompts that might make it into future chapters? You can do so [here.](http://actuallylorelaigilmore.tumblr.com/ask) :)


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